Varför är det ont om specialisternär det är gott om läkare?
- en studie om policyprocesser i svenska landsting
This essay examines the policy process of specialist medical training in three Swedish counties. The essay will first describe the policy process. Secondly the politicians parti-cipating in the process is examined. Thirdly, it is tested whether it is possible to analyze the policy process based on Ostrom's theories of cooperation around a common pool resource. In this case, the common pool resource is specialized medical practitioners skills that the Swedish county councils must collaborate on to competence should be sufficient for the county council needs, something that is not the case today.One conclusion of the study is that the health care law is not clear enough when it comes to who is responsible for providing a sufficient number of specialists. This makes it unclear who should intervene to adjust the shortage that exists today. The survey also shows that political participation in the investigation process is low, which creates problems of legitimacy in the access to and distribution of medical specialists. Consideration of Ostrom's theories shows that the theories are useful for describing the possibilities and problems of co-operation between Swedish county councils for better resource utilization of specialized medical practitioners skills. Based on the theories the conclusion of the essay is that a partnership would be possible, and in the end the essay presents suggestions on how such cooperation could be organized.